Cerebellar substructures and neurological soft signs in first-episode schizophrenia

Thomann, Philipp A.; Roebel, Martin; Santos, Vasco Dos; Bachmann, Silke; Essig, Marco; Schröder, Johannes

doi:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2008.07.006

Cited by 65 publications

(64 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…It is important to note that the detection of localized changes is not exclusive to FIRST but is also possible using voxel-based morphometry, a technique that was most commonly used in previous MRI studies on NSS in schizophrenia [12,16,29]. Inference in the latter technique relies on locally averaged gray matter segmentations and is therefore sensitive to the inaccuracy of tissue-type classification and arbitrary smoothing extents.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Second, the midbrain is connected with the cerebellar vermis. Recently, potential cerebellar involvement in the pathogenesis of NSS was addressed by four MRI studies [12,16,29,58]. These studies described significant regional loss of both white and gray matter density in schizophrenia patients with elevated NSS scores.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since there are few studies which revealed no significant correlation between NSS and brain morphology changes in healthy individuals, it is unlikely that a healthy sample would exhibit overall alterations of the brainstem compared to patients with first-episode schizophrenia. Although there is some evidence of NSS occurring more often in healthy first-degree relatives of schizophrenia patients [64], NSS levels in individuals without any psychiatric disorder were rather low compared to first-episode patients [12,14,16,65]. In fact, only 5% of healthy individuals have significant NSS [66,67].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to previous structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies, increased NSS scores were found to be related to atrophic processes within the caudate nucleus [7,11,12,13], putamen [7,14], globus pallidus [7,13], thalamus [7,11,12,13,15], cerebellum [12,16], inferior and middle frontal gyri [12], and corpus callosum [17]. Studies using functional MRI techniques reported abnormal activation in the pre- and postcentral gyrus, the premotor area, and the middle and inferior frontal gyri in patients with higher NSS scores [18,19].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Neurological Soft Signs and Brainstem Morphology in First-Episode Schizophrenia

Hirjak

Stieltjes²,

Hauser

et al. 2013

Neuropsychobiology

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Background: Minor motor and sensory deficits or neurological soft signs (NSS) have frequently been reported in patients with schizophrenia at any stage of their illness. NSS have been demonstrated to correlate with neuroanatomical abnormalities in various brain regions. Despite its important role in the integration and coordination of automatic motor actions, the brainstem has so far rather been ignored in previous neuroimaging studies on NSS in schizophrenia. Method: We investigated 21 right-handed first-episode schizophrenia patients using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging at 3 T. The severity of NSS was measured with the Heidelberg Scale. Associations between NSS and both brainstem volume and shape changes were examined. Results: Higher NSS scores were significantly associated with structural alterations in the brainstem. According to volume measurements higher NSS scores correlated with global changes of the brainstem. Using shape analyses these associations referred to regionally specific morphometric alterations predominantly in the midbrain and pons. Conclusion: The findings suggest that brainstem morphometric alterations are associated with the severity of NSS in patients with first-episode schizophrenia. They further indicate the involvement of the brainstem in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Neurological Soft Signs and Brainstem Morphology in First-Episode Schizophrenia

Hirjak

Stieltjes²,

Hauser

et al. 2013

Neuropsychobiology

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“…35 Previous structural MR imaging studies in medicated patients with schizophrenia also showed smaller volumes of the posterior cerebellum. 36 Cerebellar damage has been shown to be associated with negative symptoms and mood and behavioral dysregulation. 37 Reduced volume of the precuneus was also found in patients with schizophrenia and was associated with delusions of control.…”

Section: Gm Findingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Patterns of Brain Structural Changes in First-Contact, Antipsychotic Drug-Naïve Patients with Schizophrenia

Filippi

Canu

Gasparotti

et al. 2013

AJNR Am J Neuroradiol

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BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:Previous studies have suggested that structural changes do occur in the brain of patients with schizophrenia compared with healthy control participants. However, findings from such studies are inconclusive, probably because of the different methodologic approaches, the clinical heterogeneity of patient samples, and also the fact that patients enrolled were treated with antipsychotic drugs. The aim of this study was to investigate brain GM volumes and intrinsic structural WM changes in first-contact, antipsychotic drug-naïve patients with schizophrenia.

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Patterns of co‐altered brain structure and function underlying neurological soft signs in schizophrenia spectrum disorders

Hirjak

Rashidi

Fritze

et al. 2019

Human Brain Mapping

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Neurological soft signs (NSS) comprise a broad range of subtle neurological deficits and are considered to represent external markers of sensorimotor dysfunction frequently found in mental disorders of presumed neurodevelopmental origin. Although NSS frequently occur in schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD), specific patterns of co‐altered brain structure and function underlying NSS in SSD have not been investigated so far. It is unclear whether gray matter volume (GMV) alterations or aberrant brain activity or a combination of both, are associated with NSS in SSD. Here, 37 right‐handed SSD patients and 37 matched healthy controls underwent motor assessment and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 3 T. NSS were examined on the Heidelberg NSS scale. We used a multivariate data fusion technique for multimodal MRI data—multiset canonical correlation and joint independent component analysis (mCCA + jICA)—to investigate co‐altered patterns of GMV and intrinsic neural fluctuations (INF) in SSD patients exhibiting NSS. The mCCA + jICA model indicated two joint group‐discriminating components (temporoparietal/cortical sensorimotor and frontocerebellar/frontoparietal networks) and one modality‐specific group‐discriminating component (p < .05, FDR corrected). NSS motor score was associated with joint frontocerebellar/frontoparietal networks in SSD patients. This study highlights complex neural pathomechanisms underlying NSS in SSD suggesting aberrant structure and function, predominantly in cortical and cerebellar systems that critically subserve sensorimotor dynamics and psychomotor organization.

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Cerebellar substructures and neurological soft signs in first-episode schizophrenia

Cited by 65 publications

References 33 publications

Neurological Soft Signs and Brainstem Morphology in First-Episode Schizophrenia

Neurological Soft Signs and Brainstem Morphology in First-Episode Schizophrenia

Patterns of Brain Structural Changes in First-Contact, Antipsychotic Drug-Naïve Patients with Schizophrenia

Patterns of co‐altered brain structure and function underlying neurological soft signs in schizophrenia spectrum disorders

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